Linstead and Hopft (The Aesthetics of Organization, 2000, 75-77) propose that four types of games, which correspond to four types of play, can be distinguished. These are:
1. Agon, or contest, in which the player desires to win by merit under conditions of regulation, by relying only on themselves (or the team) and their efforts.
2. Alea, or chance, in which the player desires to win by luck, by anxious submission to fate, relying on everything except themselves and powers that are elusive.
3. Mimicry, or illusion, in which the player desires to be another personality and succeeds in acceptable imaginary universe.
4. Ilinix, or carnival, in which the player desires ecstasy, unboundedness, and freedom from constraint, and does this by confounding bodily equilibrium, ordinary perception and conscience.
Reading this, it occurred to me that these four types loosely correspond four ways in which churches operate. Let me illustrate:
The Agon church tries to operate and succeed by virtue of their own power. They “try harder,” and “go the extra mile,” and “make sacrifices.” The thought is that if they do enough, long enough, they can achieve success. Often, they achieve fatigue and burnout long before they see the enigmatic success they long for.
The Alea church believes that revival, growth, “success” is all in the hands of God. They have very little to do with it. It all has to do with God’s “timing,” and God’s “plans” for His church. They pray and believe and if it is “God’s will,” people will miraculously start appearing at their church and running to the altars.
The Mimicry church is always trying to find out what is working at another church and tries to replicate that success at their church. The pastor is always going to seminars, always up on the latest church growth strategies that worked at Willow Creek, or Saddleback, and trying to copy it in their own context. This church is marked by continually changing programs. From Evangelism Explosion, to Small Groups, to 40-Days of Purpose, they are always trying to replicate the success of other churches.
The Ilinix church is looking for a spiritual connection with God. It seeks a fresh approach, is unrestrained by either human effort or mimicry of other models. It doesn’t follow a pattern, but invites disorientation as a method of reorientation and integration of an ecstatic/spiritual experience. I am tempted to suggest that this is the desired approach of the Emerging Church Movement, but the minute Brian McLaren or Leonard Sweet wrote their books and others began to employ the Emergent Church model, they were already engaged in Mimicry.
What should the church be? Is it one of these types, or some combination? I am intrigued.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Leadership: Thinking the Unthinkable
Yesterday, the unthinkable happened in Blacksburg, Virginia on the campus of Virginia Tech (VT). A lone gunman killed 32 people before turning the gun on himself. In the wake of this atrocity the leadership of the university and the local police force are under fire from the community, students, and grieving parents who believe that grave errors in judgment, action, preparation, and disaster planning were committed. Hindsight is 20/20 and many people will look back after the fact and tell the president and police what they should have done. Mass media, men and women like Heraldo, Nancy Grace, Larry King, Katie Curic, and so on, will look back and find fault with every action taken, or not taken, on that tragic day.
Sometimes, however, things happen that we have not even considered as a possibility, things so out of the norm, so aberrant, that we have not planned for them, because we have not considered them. However, a leader must go there, must look down the dark alleys of evil possibilities and sinister scenarios. In the case of the VT incident, this type of evil is not without precedent. Columbine HS was a wake up call to this very type of atrocity. Every HS and college leader should be running scenarios and disaster planning for things of this sort.
Likewise, pastoral leadership should be prepared for the unthinkable. Recently I was threatened by a white supremacist because I am in an interracial marriage, and because our church is multicultural and multiracial. The next Sunday a large white man attended. I had never met the man before and he seemed somewhat unemotional, not unfriendly, but not friendly either. I sit in the congregation during worship, on the front pew looking ahead and it seemed I could feel this man coming down the aisle at me from behind. As it turned out, this man was just a visitor and I've since talked with him and found him to be a friendly guy. The point is that I began to think about things I'd never thought of before. What if?
Later that evening I met with the elders of the church and we began to run through some scenarios. We devised a plan to deal with any potential threat to me or members of the congregation. Leadership must think the unthinkable. Exxon had no plan when the Valdez oil tanker ripped open and spilled her cargo of oil all over the pristine Alaskan shoreline. They were caught unawares because they had not considered the unthinkable.
Leaders need to ask the "what if" question. Foresight may not be 20/20, but blindly forging ahead without considering the unthinkable is no longer acceptable.
Sometimes, however, things happen that we have not even considered as a possibility, things so out of the norm, so aberrant, that we have not planned for them, because we have not considered them. However, a leader must go there, must look down the dark alleys of evil possibilities and sinister scenarios. In the case of the VT incident, this type of evil is not without precedent. Columbine HS was a wake up call to this very type of atrocity. Every HS and college leader should be running scenarios and disaster planning for things of this sort.
Likewise, pastoral leadership should be prepared for the unthinkable. Recently I was threatened by a white supremacist because I am in an interracial marriage, and because our church is multicultural and multiracial. The next Sunday a large white man attended. I had never met the man before and he seemed somewhat unemotional, not unfriendly, but not friendly either. I sit in the congregation during worship, on the front pew looking ahead and it seemed I could feel this man coming down the aisle at me from behind. As it turned out, this man was just a visitor and I've since talked with him and found him to be a friendly guy. The point is that I began to think about things I'd never thought of before. What if?
Later that evening I met with the elders of the church and we began to run through some scenarios. We devised a plan to deal with any potential threat to me or members of the congregation. Leadership must think the unthinkable. Exxon had no plan when the Valdez oil tanker ripped open and spilled her cargo of oil all over the pristine Alaskan shoreline. They were caught unawares because they had not considered the unthinkable.
Leaders need to ask the "what if" question. Foresight may not be 20/20, but blindly forging ahead without considering the unthinkable is no longer acceptable.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Easter Leader
Have you ever gone to the creek or the lake to swim? When I was a kid, I would anxiously wait for that first spring plunge into the creek that ran behind our house. Usually my mother would make us wait until June. Only then was the water no longer too cold to turn our lips blue. The water was still cold, but on a hot June day, we welcomed the cool refreshing splash of nature. However, even after our mothers gave permission, my sister, various cousins, and I were all reticent about being the first into the water. We all wanted the other one to go ahead of us and tell us what it was like. Finally, one of us would dive in and lead the way.
Jesus was our leader. He went first. We are all apprehensive when it comes to death. Most of us have never been there and back, and those who claim they have . . . well they never took the plunge. They only dabbled on the edges until they were brought back by a shock or blow to the chest. Jesus dove in and was gone for all or part of three days. He went ahead and came back with the promise that His resurrection is our assurance that we who have placed our faith in him will rise again also.
Sometimes leadership requires that we plunge into the unpleasant, that we wrestle a victory from the jaws of defeat, and come back as an example to others.
So many opportunities in life float by the like the creek in our West Virginia back yard. We stand and shiver at the thought of diving in. We imagine, and envision, and set a goal, and chart a course, and plan a strategy, and outline a blueprint, and brainstorm, and talk and talk and talk. But somewhere, sometime, someone has to lead the way, has to take the plunge and come up again to let others know that it can be done if you have the courage to dive in.
Usually, I had one or two cousins who never would go into the water. They would sit on the shore and dabble a toe here and there, but they never knew the bliss of the cool water's kiss. Too many opportunities are missed, by too many people who only wish, but never do.
Jesus was our leader. He went first. We are all apprehensive when it comes to death. Most of us have never been there and back, and those who claim they have . . . well they never took the plunge. They only dabbled on the edges until they were brought back by a shock or blow to the chest. Jesus dove in and was gone for all or part of three days. He went ahead and came back with the promise that His resurrection is our assurance that we who have placed our faith in him will rise again also.
Sometimes leadership requires that we plunge into the unpleasant, that we wrestle a victory from the jaws of defeat, and come back as an example to others.
So many opportunities in life float by the like the creek in our West Virginia back yard. We stand and shiver at the thought of diving in. We imagine, and envision, and set a goal, and chart a course, and plan a strategy, and outline a blueprint, and brainstorm, and talk and talk and talk. But somewhere, sometime, someone has to lead the way, has to take the plunge and come up again to let others know that it can be done if you have the courage to dive in.
Usually, I had one or two cousins who never would go into the water. They would sit on the shore and dabble a toe here and there, but they never knew the bliss of the cool water's kiss. Too many opportunities are missed, by too many people who only wish, but never do.
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